Mike Hesson: “He’s won a couple of games even in the BPL and in recent times, going out and playing that finisher role, which is such a difficult role to fill. And it’s also a role where your success rate is often lower”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Islamabad United head coach Mike Hesson has noticed an improvement in Pakistan batsman Haider Ali even though he is playing the role of a finisher, “which is such a difficult role to fill”.
Haider was once seen as Pakistan’s next big-hitting talent, but was unable to score runs consistently after making an impressive start to his international career.
It resulted in the 24-year-old being dropped from the national team and he has since been playing domestic cricket and in T20 leagues around the world.
Recently, the Attock native featured in the Champions T20 Cup and was the fourth-highest run-scorer with 294 runs in eight matches for the Panthers, which included three fifties, at an average of 49 and a strike-rate of 161.53.
He then took part in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and amassed 210 runs in 12 games for the Chittagong Kings at an average of 30 and a strike-rate of 185.84.
“Haider is a player who, you know, had some learnings from his first time with Pakistan. [He] went away, was sort of in the wilderness for a little bit and I think he’s come back, we’ve given him a different role. He’s won a couple of games even in the BPL and in recent times, going out and playing that finisher role, which is such a difficult role to fill. And it’s also a role where your success rate is often lower,” Hesson told PakPassion.
Haider was not picked for Pakistan’s recent ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa.
He also didn’t make the cut the 2025 Champions Trophy, where the men in green failed to make it out of the group stage after losing to New Zealand and India.
Their final game against Bangladesh was washed out.
Pakistan are now touring New Zealand for a limited overs series, which consists of five T20Is and three ODIs.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir
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